While gracing the cover of this iconic magazine twice puts her in elite company, it certainly doesn't guarantee prolonged success.

Sure, there are the likes of Kathy Ireland or Elle Macpherson (two wildly successful business women) but there are also the Elsa Benitezs and Yamila Diaz-Rahis (two women who did not turn multiple SI covers into an empire) of the world.

So, if Upton wants to become a true icon, she is going to have to make the right moves to capitalize on her current stardom.

The good news for Upton is that she's already on this path.

Following her cover last year, she made big-screen performances in The Three Stooges and Tower Heist. While her small parts in these modestly successful films didn't turn her into a movie star, it is a nice introduction into the pivotal motion picture industry.

She's also been spotted in several commercials, like her popular Super Bowl spot for Mercedes Benz.

Upton needs this not to turn herself into a movie star, but to crank up her brand recognition while she is on top of the modeling world because in the competitive world of modeling, today's star, is tomorrow's pitch woman for Education Connection.

Ultimately, it's her name that will make her money. She can use it to put her name on and sell clothes, perfume, furniture, self-help books, lawn mowers, fly swatters, pig roasters or whatever else she would like to make money off.

To do this, she has to keep pushing her star into the consciousness by staying busy, but doing so with smart projects.

That is something far easier said than done, but with an eye on the big picture, she can certainly pull it off.